Wasn’t he out of his mind on brandy and/or heroin at the time? I said all sorts of stupid things 40 years ago. Thankfully they weren’t on the record. And I’m not famous. Time to park this particular EC canard, I think.

A few years ago I stumbled on brand new versions of the missile in one of those peculiar shops that sells all manner of unrelated, but worthy / green / sustainable products. This was in the slightly unlikely […]

By contrast with the water powered rockets, I had two Italian ones that were launched using heavy duty elastic bands. The first – which was more of a missile than a rocket – was launched using a catapult. Both […]

Have an “up”!

I rather liked it – probably because of the exciting box art. But it needed the delicacy and patience of a bomb disposal officer to “play” with, especially because all of the plastics were so brittle. Combine that […]

It sounds as if you weren’t playing it properly, because – yes! – it had its own set of rules. The idea was to move the ball into different zones on the pitch. If I remember, each team had two zones, so you placed […]

Not in my experience. I just walked in. But, given the website’s message it might be worth calling them to clarify things. Regardless of the World Cup, it’s a great bar that’s worth a visit for its own sake.

Sitting down? Not too many expats? A truly great bar? My first thought is the Blue Bar at the Algonquin Hotel. Despite the Dorothy Parker connections, I had a good afternoon watching the Indy 500 there a few years […]

Although I possess a guitar and I have mastered half a dozen chords, I’d never claim to be a guitarist, and the world of effects pedals is a mystery to me. But I love the names! Whoever comes up with them – and I […]

You’re all wrong! Try this:
He’s in love with rock ‘n’ roll, woah,
He’s in love with getting stoned, woah,
He’s in love with Janie Jones, woah,
He don’t like his boring job, no…

And they matched this […]

I lasted 53 seconds. Unbearable!

I find Ella completely boring, I’m afraid! Maybe it’s all those over-familiar jazz standards. I’d much rather listen to Dusty Springfield, Dionne Warwick or – much more up to date – Hannah Reid of London Grammar.

Now I come to think of it, all but one of my watches have been gifts. I bought myself an Alessi watch when I turned 30, and wore it until I was given a beautiful Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso when I turned 42 (very […]

Seems to be. The Circle of Life works in just about every context!

School plays, although my niece has just had a baby, so there may be some requirement to attend these grim affairs in a few years’ time. It’s not so much the performances – especially when singing is involved – […]

Yes.

I prefer the second album. After hearing “Ways to be Wicked” I bought the debut and wanted to love it, but was underwhelmed. The production was poor and most of the songs were weak. But I kept an eye on them and – […]

Oh who cares? Why is everyone so touchy at the moment? Thanks to social media hardly any slight gaffe goes unnoticed and un-comdemned. Anyway, I thought that was quite an interesting take on the Star Spangled […]

Grimsby was truly grim, but I gave up after around 20 minutes. There’s a long line of unfinished – even barely started – films on my Netflix display. Other candidates: Zoolander 2, Anchorman 2 and Ted 2. Avoid at […]

Does LaLa Land count, given that it was a critical and commercial hit a year ago? Forgettable songs, mediocre singing and dancing and what was the point? Even the main characters were unattractive. Admittedly I […]